Kui Buri National Park

X2 Kui Buri, the idyllic beach front resort located in the Gulf of Thailand, is perfectly located to explore Thailand’s natural beauty. This region of Thailand is famed for its beaches and crystal clear waters but if one is willing to venture away from the beach they can find a natural environment still packed with Thailand’s exotic forests and animals.

The Kui Buri National Park, one of Thailand largest parks covering an impressive 969km and is home to many animals including tigers, leopards, gibbons, dusky langur (the cutest monkeys around), stump-tailed macaques, Asiatic black bear, Malayan sun bear, gaur (Indian bison), serow, Malayan tapir, and four species of hornbill, as well as hundreds of other creatures. However this national park is most famous for wild herds of elephants.

This region was once home to huge numbers of wild elephants however deforestation and conflict with humans have dramatically reduced their numbers. The national park works to protect this vulnerable habitat for both Asian elephants and tigers. Park rangers protect this environment through wildlife habitat restoration, anti-poaching patrols, education and enforcing buffer zones to reduce human –elephant conflict. The Kui Buri National Park has been heralded as a true success which was highlighted during a recent visit by the Thai Prime Minister earlier this month.

Most park visitors are lucky enough to catch glimpse of these truly wild Asian elephants by taking one the numerous park hiking or driving tours. The park rangers monitor the tours ensuring that the elephants are undisturbed by the tourists. For the intrepid explorers the park also offers the possibility to volunteer on projects from tree planting to construction of elephant watering holes. New watering holes encourage elephants to gather in safer location under the watchful eye of park rangers.

Like all good national parks, Kui Buri has several waterfalls, Huay Dong Mai Fai being the largest. This impressive waterfall boasts of 15 separate levels, including a few perfect of swimming. Pha Ma Hon waterfall flows over an impressive cliff and is a triple-tiered, all year round option.

Balancing the needs of the environment with the demands of tourists and farmers is no easy task but the Kui Buri National Park has made great strides and with the continued help of the Thai authorities we hope this natural paradise will continue to thrive.

Kui Buri National Park is located just 40mins drive from the X2 Kui Buri Resorts.